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Raymond's New Season Garlic & Potato Soup

In his new TV series and accompanying book, ‘Kew on a Plate’ Raymond Blanc has teamed up with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to create a stunning Kitchen Garden. His new season garlic & potato soup is a delicious way to enjoy the new season or ‘wet’ garlic as it is also known.

Planning ahead:

This soup can be cooked one day in advance

Serves 4

Ingredients:

30g / 2 tbsp Butter, unsalted

200g / 1x Onion, white, finely sliced

120g Garlic, new season, sliced, trimmings reserved (*1)

250g Potato, Maya Gold / desire, peeled and finely sliced

1.2l Milk, Whole, organic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper & a little lemon juice

Method:

In a covered heavy based saucepan, on a low heat, soften the onion, garlic & potato in the butter for 20 minutes until soft and tender (*2), seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Add the milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes and liquidise until smooth and velvety. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Chef’s notes (*1):

*1

Simmer the garlic trimmings with the milk for 5 minutes to perfume the milk, before adding it to the soup base.

*2

The softening process is vital in developing the flavour of the soup. By cooking gently in the butter you are ‘sweetening’ the onions by breaking down the larger starch molecules in the vegetables into smaller sugar units.

Variations:

Garnish this dish with some wild garlic or some toasted new season garlic slices, black onion seeds and finely chopped chives.

For a lighter version of the soup replace 600ml of milk with 600ml of water.